Stacked port fluidic amplifier



Sept. 23, 1959 g. ONEAL 3,463,331

STACKED PORT FLUIDIC AMPLIFIER INVENTOR CHARLES D. O'NEAL ATTORNEY P 3,1969 c. 0. O'NEAL 3,468,331

STACKED PORT FLUIDIC AMPLIFIER Filed July 3, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR CHARLES D. O NEAL.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,468,331 STACKED PORT FLUIDIC AMPLIFIERCharles D. ONeal, Winter Park, Fla., assignor to Martin MariettaCorporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Maryland Filed July 3,1967, Ser. No. 650,817 Int. Cl. Flc 1/08 US. Cl. 13781.5 6 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention teaches an improvement in theapplication of laminate techniques to the construction of fluidicdevices, in that it makes possible the use of aligned apertures in aplurality of stacked planes for creating a fluidic device of desiredconfiguration, and significantly enables the creation of a splitterwhich is not only desirably very thin, but also retains structuralintegrity by being supported at both ends.

This invention relates to fluidic devices, and more particularly to theconstruction of such devices such that not only can high volumefabrication techniques can be employed, but also the resulting device ascreated has very desirable operating characteristics.

In the past, a number of fluidic devices have been proposed, some ofwhich were proportional devices, with others being in the nature ofdigital devices. When constructing proportional amplifiers, I found itwas increasingly (lllIlClllt to create flow dividing splitters thatwould function properly with very small nozzle sizes. As elementgeometry decreased, splitters were required to be smaller and smalleruntil they became exceedingly hard to fabricate. This was because of thefact a conventional splitter is essentially a long, unsupported taperedpiece of metal that is not only hard to dispose in the correct positionwith respect to the nozzle, but also it tends to generate acousticalnoise when the device with which it is associated is in operation.

In accordance with the present invention, I avoid entirely theconstruction of fluid elements having splitters in the form of long,tapered, unsupported pieces of metal, but rather use instead a splitterplane whose edges are quite satisfactorily supported.

Whereas when one is fabricating fluidic elements from planes or foils,he normally etches the entire interaction area of an element out of asingle plane, and then stacks such plane with other planes to create thedesired arrangement, in accordance with my concept, the interaction areais constructed by the juxtapositioning of several apertured planes,which are stacked so as to allow the splitter to be defined by a singlesupported plane, which splitter in effect is disposed 90 to thedirection of stacking. In this manner, the need for long, unsupportedsplitters with their inherent difficulties of fabrication is avoided.

The essence of my invention is the fact that I have provided a splitterin the shape of a long, supported plane rather than a slender, taperedpiece of metal to accomplish the divided action employed in aproportional amplifier, for example. It should be noted, however, thatby the use of my invention, I may also create bistable elements in whichwall attachment principles may be utilized. In addition, my novelconstruction affords the designer more latitude than he previously had,for he can by the addition or removal of planes from a given geometry,affect the configuration of the interaction area in a desired manner.

In accordance with my invention I may utilize a com- 3,468,331 PatentedSept. 23, 1969 paratively large number of planes in at least some ofwhich, apertures are created. These apertures are disposed in such amanner that when the planes are stacked together, the apertures form atleast one cavity, a nozzle for delivering fluid into the cavity, atleast two exit passages from the cavity, and a pair of control ports.

Approximately centrally disposed with respect to the cavity, anapertured plane is employed, an edge of the aperture of which forms asplitter edge. This splitter in effect is represented by a single planenormal to the adjacent planes, above and below which fluid from thenozzle can flow. The flow is thus divided into two portions, withapproximately 50% flowing above the splitter plane and 50% below thesplitter plane when no differential in control signal is present.

As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, upon a differential inthe control signal being created by a change in the pressure level ofthe one control port with respect to the other, a dilferent amount offlow will thereafter take place above the splitter plane than below it,thus achieving the goal of providing a proportional amplifier withoutthe use of a long tapered, unsupported piece of metal. Although mysplitter is quite thin, it is adequately supported at both ends, thusenabling it to be used with extremely small nozzle geometries.

In order to fully utilize the advantages of my invention I have found itnecessary to make the planes out of metal foil because only a metal foilwill have the requisite amount of strength in thicknesses as small asare involved herein. For example, the splitter plane in accordance withmy invention may have a thickness of say one-half thousandth toone-thousandth of an inch without possessing the inherent fragility ofthe prior art type of splitter. It should be also noted that by the useof my invention, a much higher flow rate can be employed than waspossible in prior art devices.

I am not limited to the construction of proportional amplifiers, for aspreviously mentioned, in accordance with my invention I can make wallattachment devices, this being achieved by virtue of the fact that thelayers of metal on either side of the splitter plane can be configuredso as to present one or more surfaces adjacent the outlet of the nozzle.

My invention lends itself to the construction of fluidic devices havingno vents, this being true because my advantageous form of splitter doesnot materially disturb the output flow.

It is therefore the principal object of my invention to provide afluidic device which lends itself to miniaturization while at the sametime permitting the use of relatively simple fabrication and techniques.

It is another object of my invention to provide a fluidic device inwhich the splitter of the device is formed of a plane rather than asingle, long unsupported, tapered piece of metal.

Other objects, features and advantages will be more apparent from thestudy of the enclosed drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view of a stacked port fluidic amplifierof vented configuration, this being predominantly a momentum effectdevice;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view of a fluidic amplifier generallyalong the lines of FIGURE 1, but in which no vents are used, this beingpredominantly a pressure effect device; and

FIGURE 3 illustrates in an exploded view a number of the planes that areutilized in the construction of a fluidic amplifier or the like inaccordance with my invention, this view being of a vented configuration.

Turning now to FIGURE 1 it will be noted that this vented version of myinvention may employ a number of planes or laminates in the constructionof a fiuidic amplifier 10, most plane configurations of which may beused twice. Plane a in the central portion of the array of planes is thesplitter plane which serves to split the flow emanating from the powernozzle 11, and is generally .0005 to .001" in thickness. Plane a isnormally used singly, whereas plane b through g disposed below thesplitter plane have a b through g above the splitter.

Plane b and its counterpart .are typically .002" thick in the preferredembodiment, which therefore means that the nozzle 11 may have adimension of .005. Plane and its counterpart are for example .004"thick, with these planes each having a large aperture so that channelsor receivers 14 and 15 will be defined below and above the splitter 21,through which channels, fluid entering supply ports 12 and 13 andemanating from power nozzle 11 can flow. It is therefore the flowemanating from nozzle 11 that is divided by splitter 21, with which thenozzle is substantially aligned. The fluid from nozzle 11 flows acrosschamber 24 whose upper and lower boundaries are defined by planes f andg and planes f and g, and whose sides are defined by the edgethicknesses of several planes.

Inasmuch as this embodiment is of the vented type, it utilizes planes dand d in order to separate the vent channels 18 and 19 from the outputchannels 14 and 15. The planes d and d are preferably of the same thinmaterial as the splitter plane a, inasmuch as in effect, these planesalso perform a splitter function. In other words, the jet emanating fromthe nozzle 11 contains a turbulent boundary region between it and theambient fluid medium. This region is thus isolated from the outputchannels 14 and 15 by plane a and its counterpart d.

Approximately 50% of the flow emanating from nozzle 11 normally flowsbelow the splitter 21, through channel or volume 14 to the outlet 22that is disposed at the upper right end of the amplifier device asviewed in FIG- URE 1, whereas the other 50% normally flows along channelor volume to the outlet 23, located on the lower right end of theamplifier.

In accordance with this embodiment of my invention, control signals maybe impressed upon the flow emanating from nozzle 11, such signals beingdirected through control ports 16 and 17 disposed in the upper and lowerwalls of chamber 24, As a result of a differential existing betweenports 16 and 17, a larger percentage of the flow than 50% may be causedto flow along one side or surface of the splitter than along the otherside, thus enabling this device to achieve a proportioning of the flowin accordance with desired percentages.

In the vented configuration of my device as illustrated in FIGURE 1, thephenomena which predominantly accounts for the operation of the deviceis the momentum exchange between control signals emanating from controlports 16 and 17 and the power stream emanating from nozzle 11. Thisexchange occurs in chamber 24 and serves to deflect the path of thepower jet.

Planes g and g' may define the upper and lower confines of theproportional amplifier 10, or upper and lower cover plates may be usedwith the device if such be preferred.

As will be understood, the apertures and chambers of the device 10 maybe established by creating appropriate holes or apertures in the planesa through g (and their counterparts) before the various planes aresecured together. For example, holes may be cut or punched initially inplanes g and g corresponding with the positions of the supply, controland output holes. Planes f and f are cut similarly, but differ by havingan enlarged hole near the location of the control port, thus to define aportion of the vent channel 18 and 19. Planes e and e have even largerportions cut away, so as to form a portion of chamber 24 and a portionof the vent channel 18 and 19. Planes c and c' are of .4 course cut awayto form the passages or volumes adjacent the splitter 21, and the topand bottom of nozzle 11. nozzle 11.

The ventless configuration of my device as illustrated in FIGURE 2 ispredominantly a pressure efiect device and such relies on a difierentialpressure across the power jet as the mechanism by which the power jet isdeflected. In this figure, like reference numerals are used to indicatethe same elements or apertures as employed in FIGURE 1. Absent of coursefrom this fig we are vent channels 18 and 19 and their outlets.

As in FIGURE 1, the splitter 21 serves to divide the flow emanating fromnozzle 11, with which it is preferably aligned.

Some turbulence may occur in chamber 24 during the operation of thisembodiment, but its effect on the operation of the device can beminimized by the judicious arrangement of chamber geometries. By adifferential of pressure across the chamber 24 caused by the use ofdifferential control signals at ports 16 and '17, a desired deflectionof the power stream from nozzle 11 can be brought about, resulting inmore flow from one outlet than the other.

FIGURE 3 is an exploded view that represents the element planes or foilsthat may be used in the construction of the vented device shown inFIGURE 1. Reference letters a through g and their counterpartg are ofcourse relatable to the same letters appearing in FIGURE 1.

' As was noted in FIGURE 1, signal exists as well as vents are provided.The various apertures utilized in these planes can of course be formedin accordance with etching techniques described at greater length in thecopending patent application of Richards and Depperman entitled HighSpeed Fluidic Devices, Ser. No. 546,935, filed May 2, 1966 and assignedto the assignee of the present invention.

As to the means for securing the element planes together, conventionalbonding techniques may be employed if desired.

As should now be apparent, I have provided an effective technique forthe creation and manufacture of fluidic devices in which effectiveproportioning or division of a flow can be brought about, with asplitter being utilized which is effectively supported at both ends,thus avoiding the expense and other undesirable attributes associatedwith prior art splitters. Also, this technique makes rapid changes ofgeometry possible in that a chamber or a nozzle can be changed as totheir sizes or relation ships merely by the addition or subtraction ofplanes. In other words, whereas prior art devices could be changed as totheir volumes by the addition or subtraction of planes, they could not,as is here possible, materially alter the geometric relationships of theinteracting fiuid streams.

I claim:

1. A fluidic device comprising a stacked array of element planes, atleast some of said planes having apertures therein, said apertures beingcreated in said planes so that when said planes are stacked together,the apertures together form at least one cavity, as well as passages forfluid to flow into and out of said cavity, one of said apertured elementplanes being disposed in a substantially central portion with respect tosaid cavity, with an edge of the aperture of latter element plane actingas a splitter for flow into said cavity.

2. The fluidic device as defined in claim 1 in which said stacked planesform a ve nted device.

3. The fiuidic device as defined in claim 1 in which said said stackedplanes form a vented device.

4. A fluidic device comprising a stacked array of element planes, atleast some of said planes having apertures therein, said apertures beingcreated in said planes in such a relationship that when said planes arestacked together, the apertures together form at least one cavity,

to said cavity, with an edge of the aperture of latter 5 element planeacting as a splitter for flow from said nozzle.

5. The fiuidic device as defined in claim 4 in which said stacked planesform a vented device.

6. The fluidic device as defined in claim 4 in which 10 said stackedplanes define a ventless device.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,947,320 8/1960 Oxley et a1,137--271 3,285,265 11/1966 Boothe et a1. 137-81.5

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner WILLIAM R. CLINE, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R. 251-367 P0405) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTION Patent No. 3, 331 Dated September 23, 1969 Inventor) CharlesD. O'Neal It is certified that error appears in the above-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

I Column 4, line 68, Claim 2, "Va med" should read --vented--;

line 70, Claim 3, "vented" should read --vent1ess-.

SIGNED AN'U SEALED DEBZMQQ Attest:

3.1mm. memb r. I WILLIAM E. su

Officer oomissm"

